Teen Titans: The Chronicles of Exile and Pyro
by RageTH
Summary: -Rated for language, and violence- With a ninja AND a fire demi-god on the team, the Titans are unstoppable, right? Stealth, swordplay, and musclecars, and even some romance! This is the story of the team's newest members.
1. A Meeting

**Teen Titans  
-  
The Chronicles of Exile and Pyro**

**Chapter one: A Meeting**

"You... I owe you one, Pyro!" Robin almost yelled as Pyro shut the door. Another flawlessly executed practical joke. Sometimes, Beast Boy could be quite helpful with things of that nature. Pyro walked to the edge of the island and blasted himself off into the night sky. Soon, the sounds of a jet aircraft permeated the chilly air. No one could see it, though, as Pyro had no navigational lights, and he was forcing himself through the air the same way as any jet would, but his fires were invisible. The heat didn't bother him, and it was easy to make the flames invisible, all thanks to his unique power, which few had. His father had the same kind of ability, and also happened to be the leader of a Multiverse-wide organization known as The Order of The Flame. There are other organizations out there covering the rest of the elmental ability, such as The Order of Earth or The Order of The Hurricane. The rest of the Titans didn't know of their exsistence, as they seemed like organized crime rings, even though they weren't.

Pyro was scanning the tops of buildings in search of a certain criminal who was causing havoc with the banks of the city. Stealing as little as two dollars and seventy five cents from some banks, or stealing as much as thirty-six thousand dollars from others, this criminal kept them on their toes. No one knew when he would strike, but Pyro seemed to have come upon a pattern that no one else saw. As he flew, he noticed someone on a nearby building, and dropped out of the sky to investigate. The jet sound abruptly stopped as he fell down to a building across the block. Pyro pulled out a blurry picture from his pocket and compared the sillouette to the picture. The resemblance was remarkable enough, and he determined that this was his target. He hid himself behind a vent box, and prepared for his move. Unfortunately, a call from his communications device almost gave him away.

"Try not to be a hero this time, okay? If you find him, call us!" Robin's voice warned.

"It was just a flesh wound! I could've taken him out!" Pyro hissed back, referring to a time when he was impaled on a spike thanks to a low-life named Needlefreak. He had pulled the spike out and tried to fight, but Starfire dragged him kicking and screaming to a hospital. She refused to believe that he could live long enough to 'get more blood later.'

"Besides, I think I see him."

"Where are you now?" Robin asked impaitently

"Right outside the door." Pyro replied before slamming the communicator closed.  
He pulled out his silver custom longbarrel revolver and opened the breach, catching the bullets before they hit the ground. He put them in his left pocket, and pulled out two bullets from his right pocket and put them in, and quietly closed the breach. He then attached a silencer to the end of the gun. Pyro raised himself so that he could just see over the vent box, and brought up his revolver to bear. He aimed carfully, then pulled the trigger twice, quickly, the action clicking almost as if it were firing one bullet. Somehow, his target saw them coming, and promptly dissappeared. Pyro smiled.

"Looks like this might be fun..." He said, breaking the silencer off and pocketing it, then putting the gun back into a holster under his duster.  
_  
I can see you._ Pyro thought, just before reaching over his shoulder and whipping around a giant sword and held it in a certain spot. His target appeared out of thin air, delivering a flying kick, intended for Pyro, right into his sword. Then, he dissappeared again. _What the...? Where'd he go? Damn, he's fast. _Pyro added mentally. He put his blade back over his shoulder, and braced himself, looking around. _There!_ He quickly started spinning around, bringing a foot up to deflect a punch. Pyro returned with a backhanded fist, blocked by a forearm. The fight continued on, like a scene from a Matrix movie, the swinging of fists and feet whistling in the air. Pyro was having a hard time keeping up, but he was managing, until he decided to change his plan of action. He jumped high into the air, pulled out his giant blade, and swung it around a moment to gain momentum, and as he fell, he brought down the blade. The man moved out of the way, but didn't anticipate what was coming next. The shockwave from the sword caught him off guard, and nearly knocked him down. The wake sent him tumbling, but he kept himself from hitting the ground by planting a hand as he tumbled and brought himself upright when his feet hit the ground.

Pyro pulled his blade from the top of the building and held it in a stance. They both watched each other for a moment, buthe made the first move. He brought his blade back and charged at the man, and swung with everything he had, trying for an angle cut, a sharp crack as the blade broke the sound barrier when he commanded it by thought to open. The man jumped up and out of the way, and then sent a vicious spin kick to Pyro's head, knocking the blade off the building, sticking itself into the cement, and Pyro rolling across the rooftop. He stopped in a sitting position, but threw himself back up after a moment.

"Good kick... Good kick..." Pyro said, knocking his jaw back into position.

Seeing Pyro's stunned state, the warrior in black came charging, preparing to finish off his opponent. Just as the tip of his blade came within millimeters of Pyro's throat, he stopped. He found Pyro's pistol digging its barrel into his chest. Impasse. Standoff. Pyro could shoot him, but the swordsman's weight would force his weapon through Pyro's neck. Pyro noted two eyes that seemed to penetrate his very soul. The two fighters regared each other for some time, neither backing down. Suddenly, the swordsman's masked eyes widened. Something in the mysterious warrior's mind stopped him. He pulled back, swinging his sword to the side, flinging some raindrops off the weapon, and sheathing it in one swift motion. The warrior finally spoke, in a dark voice. "You're not the enemy. You do not deserve to be destroyed...". Pyro quickly rose to his feet. "Really? So who is the enemy anyway? And you sure talk odd for someone who robs banks..."

"I am not your bank robber. You have been chasing the wrong target. I am a warrior of the shadow. I have no need for riches and fortune." The swordsman looked at a hidden object in his hand. "Look again at your reference."  
Pyro felt into his pocket, but found it empty. The swordsman held out the photograph. "Hey! How the hell did you-" He stopped, taking the photo. Pyro gave it a quick inspection. "Yeah, you don't really look like him. Sorry about... y'know, the bullets, and the fighting. You're pretty damn fast. Where'd you learn to move like that? Moreover, who ARE you? I haven't seen you around here before."

The swordsman stepped into some nearby light. "My name, is Exile. I was trained in the art of the shadow by master Hattori."

"No way! the Hattori family... as in-"

"The great Hanzo Hattori of feudal Japan. The same."

Pyro was impressed. "Wow, no wonder you can move like that." He extended his hand towards Exile. "Name's Pyro."  
Exile accepted the outreached hand. "I've heard of you, Pyro. It's an honor to meet a warrior of your reknown."

"Well all right! I'm finally gaining some clout around here!" Pyro chuckled, then cleared his throat and composed himself. "So, do you live around here? I've never seen you, but with your speed, I doubt many have."

Exile paused for a brief moment. "I am... a wanderer. I go where I choose. I sleep when I need to sleep, and eat when I need to eat."

Pyro raised an eyebrow. "Seriously? Anywhere you feel sleepy, you just lie down? Even if it's in some wide open field during a storm?" Exile looked out over the city. "I would attempt to seek shelter, but if none is available, then yes."  
Pyro put his hands on his hips, thinking to himself: _Oooookay. This guy's a little bit odd. But we could use help from a guy like him. This son of a gun's got some serious moves. Maybe we should give him a shot. See what he can do._ He cleared his throat, "Hey, listen Exile. Looks like some bad weather is setting in. Why not come back to my place? I can get you some good grub and shelter. Whaddya say?"

Exile looked up at the sky. Clouds were showing flashes of light amongst themselves, and it had been a long time since he had eaten. Bowing his head to Pyro, Exile said, "I would be honored. Thank you".

"Let's go then, before the weather gets bad. Follow me!" The area behind his feet began to hiss as he took off, as he felt no need to leave Exile behind with afterburner. He turned off to the West, and Exile followed, dashing along the rooftops. They approached the coast, and Pyro pointed out the T-shaped tower. "We're almost there!" They both stopped a few feet short of the water, as Pyro hovered a couple feet off the ground. "Well, I can carry you over. Doesn't seem you're gifted with flight."

Exile looked up at the hovering Pyro. "That won't be necessary." He looked out over the water, aiming himself at the island. Closing his eyes, he brought his right hand near his face, thumb facing his nose. He quickly dropped every finger but his index and middle. Exile's masked eyes shot open. "HA!" Suddenly, he became no more than a blur, as he streaked across the water, waves flying up on either side of him. In less than a second, he had crossed the lake, and was on the island.

"You're just full of surprises, aren't you?" Said a chuckling Pyro as he landed next to Exile. "Let's head inside, so you can meet the others!"

The two went into the tower, and just as Pyro shut the door, the bottom fell out of the sky. _Oh, good, everyone's here_, he thought. "Everyone, this is Exile. Exile, The boy teen wonder there is Robin. That's our local ironman, Cyborg. That's the only reason tofu exists, Beast Boy. Ms. Positivity 2004, Starfire, and the girl in the back sucking the fun out of the room is Raven." Pyro said, gesturing appropriately at each Titan. Then the Titans greeted Exile each in their own way, all except for Raven, who looked at him for a moment, then returned to her book.

"There is a mini fridge over there by some cabinets. Everything in there is good unless there is some blue fuzz on it, then it's best to leave it alone. That stuff has a mind of it's own." Pyro said, holding up a finger. There was a blob of blue fuzz gnawing at his finger. He flicked it away, then continued, "Robin can show you to an unoccupied room, and he can tell you where all the restrooms are. There is a garage on the bottom floor, if you have a car or something, feel free to park it there. One other thing, Raven's room is off limits if you value your life." Exile took all of this in without showing it.  
Exile caught Robin looking warily at him. Exile slowly approached the Boy Wonder. "You... do not trust me, I take it." Robin nervously coughed, not wanting to offend the new guy. Exile continued in his calm tone. "It is OK, and quite understandable. I am new to your world, and you must be careful. Please, allow me to prove myself." He turned to Pyro. "I noticed you used some sort of communication device to talk to Robin, who I assume is your leader. May I borrow it?"

Pyro's jaw dropped. "You SAW and HEARD that? How the hell did-" He put his hands on his hips and laughed. "Like I said, you're full of surprises, Exile. Here ya go." He tossed the puck-sized communicator to Exile. "What do you want it for?"  
Exile clipped it to his pants. "I must repay you and your team for your hospitality. You have provided me with food and shelter. I am indebted to all of you. Please allow me to work to repay that debt." Exile turned towards the door. "I only ask two things: that you do not call me until I have called you, and that you do not follow me." He opened the large front door, and blowing rain began to soak the carpet.

Starfire perked up. "Mysterious swordsman in black! The weather outside is quite awful! You should not risk your health! Wait until tomorrow, when it might be more favorable outside!"  
Exile regarded the floating Tameranian. Starfire pulled back slightly as she felt as if something was looking deep inside her.

"You are pure of heart, Starfire. Please work to stay that way. But you needn't worry about me. Besides, I... work... better at night." Exile turned to face Robin. "I've noticed that you have placed sensors and cameras all about town. Perhaps you will want to follow me through those."  
_  
Jeez, _thought Pyro. _This guy notices everything...  
_  
Exile walked out the door, and into the stormy night, the doors closing slowly behind him. Pyro walked over to a control console and pulled up camera views of the city. "Hey, Titans, you'll wanna watch this guy. He's good."

Everyone, even Raven, decided to see what the big deal was. They knew it took a lot to impress Pyro. Cyborg leaned over at the keyboard, and typed a few things in. "We can track the communicator he took, see where he heads. This guy seems kinda nice, but we should keep a sharp eye on him. We haven't exactly had a great track record of new team members. No offense, Pyro."

"None taken." Pyro had heard the whole Terra saga. "But I think you'll find this guy has quite a bit he can bring to the team. Just watch." The Titans watched a map of the city, with a blinking red dot marking the location of Exile's borrowed communicator. It suddenly stopped on top of a skyscraper. Robin finally spoke up, to Cyborg, who was now sitting at the controls. "Cyborg, put him on the screen. What's he doing?" Cyborg typed furiously away, and up came the image from a camera on a neighboring roof. Cyborg moved a trackball to center Exile in the picture. The falling rain blurred the picture, but it was assuredly him. Exile stood at the edge of a building, standing tall, with his arms folded across his chest. The only thing moving was his cape, blowing in the wind.

"What's he doing?" asked Beast Boy.

"Ssshh" replied Pyro. "Watch. He's waiting..."

"Yeah," said Raven. "But what's he waiting for?"

Suddenly, another red light began flashing on the other side of town, along with the sound of an alarm. Cyborg spoke up.

"That's Jump City National Bank!"

Robin began his famous battle cry "TITANS! G-"

"WAIT!" Pyro commanded. "Just watch..."

Every pair of eyes remained fixed on Exile's image. They suddenly saw him whip his head to the side, facing the direction of the bank. "No! No freaking way!" yelled Beast Boy. "Did he just HEAR that alarm?"  
Pyro said "I think he just _sensed_ it. There's something deep about this guy..."  
Back out on the skyscraper roof, Exile narrowed his eyes. Suddenly, his image blurred, and he was gone. At the tower, everyone gasped. The red dot marking the communicator reappeared at another rooftop a block away. "HOLY CRAP!" exclaimed Cyborg. "How'd he DO that?"

Pyro softly chuckled to himself. "Like i said, juuuuuussst watch." Suddenly, the dot jumped again, down onto the street.  
Exile found himself on an empty street, 10 blocks from the bank. Robin commanded Cyborg "Get his picture up! We gotta see this!" Cyborg pulled up the view from a nearby lamp post. There stood Exile, with his right hand in front of his face again.

Pyro chucked again "Oh man, you guys are gonna love this..."

Back on the street, Exile's eyes shot open. "HA!"

Exile's image blurred out again, and streaked across the camera's view in the blink of an eye. Everyone focused again on the map, as the red dot marking Exile's position rocketed towards the bank. "Unbelievable!" Said Starfire. The other Titans were rendered speechless. Before they knew it, The two dots were on top of one another. Robin regained his composure.

"Cyborg! Get every camera up that's near or in that bank!" Cyborg obeyed, and soon, 10 images were pulled up. The vault camera showed a hole blown in the floor, and a shadowed figure loading up stacks of money into a large bag. "Gunsmith!" yelled Robin, "Oh man, is he actually going to try and stop him ALONE?" The other Titans couldn't help but watch.  
In the vault, an evil cackle emerged. "Ha ha! I'm just too damn good! It's still a good 10 minutes before those useless cops arrive, and I've already beaten back those lame Teen Titans and outgunned that hothead Pyro!" Having packed up the last of his desired money, he slung the bag over his shoulder and headed out the front door. Just as he emerged, a black blur flashed in front of his eyes, which were suddenly met with a pair of angry, masked ones. "GAH! Who the hell are YOU?" Lightning struck nearby, illuminating the warrior.

Exile's dark voice answered him "Who I am is not of your concern. Put the money back. NOW!" Thunder boomed along with his voice.

Back at the Tower, Pyro began to get concerned. "Exile... watch yourself..."

Gunsmith turned his back, and returned inside. "Fine, I'll put the money back..."

Robin yelled out "HEY! He's gonna do it agai-"

Gunsmith whipped back around, discarding the bag, and withdrawing two Uzis from his black overcoat. "Find something to answer to THESE!" Exile raised an eyebrow, but held his position.

"Exile! Get the hell out of there!" Yelled Beast Boy. The others could only watch.

Exile pushed his cape back, and quickly unsheathed his weapon. "You're going to have to do a lot better than that! Eat hot lead!" Gunsmith squeezed both triggers, emptying the clips.

Exile's eyes narrowed, and the only two sounds heard were the uzis, and the clashing of 9 millimeter rounds with Exile's weapon. The Titans and Pyro stared with eyes the size of dishes as Exile's ridiculous speed deflected every bullet away.

Gunsmith couldn't believe what he was seeing. He dropped the two empty weapons. "N... no! How the hell did you do that!"

He reached into his coat for two more guns, but was stopped by Exile's dark voice.

"You have been given your chance. You will not have another."

Gunsmith gasped in horror, as his adversary blurred out. Before he knew what hit him, 10 flashes of light seemed to appear at once. Stunned, Gunsmith could do little more than freeze as his coat fell to shreds around his feet. Even his other weapons had been cut clean through, and fell in several pieces. Exile reappeared in front of Gunsmith, who uttered the exact same line as those back in Titans Tower.

"HOLY CRAP!"

Suddenly, Gunsmith's vision went blank, as a slug from Exile knocked him clean out. Exile swung his sword to the side, and resheathed it in one swift, smooth motion. He took the communicator and called back to the tower. "Robin? Are you there?"

Robin had to compose himself for a second, then responded. "Yeah..."

"You can find your adversary at the Jump City-"

"National Bank. We're sending the cops right now. You can... come back now..."

"Very well." Exile returned the communicator to his belt, and walked back outside into the driving rain. "HA!" and he tore off back towards the tower. In a matter of minutes, the swordsman was at the door, knocking lightly. Beast Boy opened it, and beheld a soaked Exile. "Oooh MAN! You were soooo friggin' cool! How did you learn to do all that stuff?"

Exile wrung out some excess water from his cape. "It's a long story. I will tell you sometime. For now, may I rest?"

"Dude...!" Beast Boy started.

"Yeah, let me show you to your room." Robin said, gesturing up the stairs. Pyro walked over to the big black couch, pulled out his big sword, sat down and began shining it with a rag he pulled out of his pocket.

"I told ya'll... If the weather clears up tomorrow, we'll let him run the course, see what he can do. Right Robin?" Pyro said, adding the last part when Robin appeared from the stairway. Robin muttured something under his breath, walking into the kitchen.

"Hey man, What's up?" Pyro asked. Robin motioned for Pyro to come over. He stood up, whipping the big sword over his shoulder and stuffing the rag into his pocket, and walked over to Robin in the kitchen.

"Pyro, I don't quite trust him yet. So he did one good thing. We souldn't be so fast to allow him in." Robin said, quiet enough for just the two of them.

"So you want him to solve another Son of Sam case?" Pyro replied, a hint of sarcasm.

"No, and it was beginner's luck for you."

"Whatever you say... So you're still a non-believer. Suit yourself. If he turns on us, I will personally give you my head on a silver platter."

"I'll pass. Just how are you so sure of him, anyway?"

"I have my reasons, There is still some stuff I can do that no one else knows yet."

"Like what?" Robin asked, a bit expectantly.

"This sword? Only people whom I mentally let use it can." He said, pulling it out. He stood it on th point, and gestured Robin to hold it.

"See? You're holding it up now, feels light, doesn't it?" Pyro asked.

"Yeah!" Robin replied, sounding suprised. Then, it suddenlycame him down, the blade sitting on top of him.

"Pyro...!" Robin mouthed.He knelt down, and picked up the sword, flinging it over his shoulder into its invisible sheath. Robin got up and dusted himself off.

"How did you...? If felt like my bike fell on me!" he said.

"My sword runs off of thought, somewhat. I mentally decided to not let you use it, so it fell over on you. I don't know how it gains weight like that though. My mother made it, so she would know more than any one else about it, but unfortunately, she's... not around anymore." Pyro said.

An uncomfortable silence settled over the two, then Pyro cleared his throat, and yawned. "Well, I need some sleep. I'll see you in the morning."

Pyro and Robin retired to their respective chambers. In the spare room, Exile removed his shoes and cloak. He took his sheathed weapon in his hand, sat cross-legged on the bed, placed his hands in his lap, and closed his eyes, wondering if he had made a good first impression on his hosts. It had been years since he had anywhere to call "home". He wondered if they would they accept him. Convincing himself he would do well on the trainer tomorrow, Exile soon fell into a state of deep thought and relaxation. His thoughts were soon troubled, as flashbacks from his past flooded into his mind. A small sweat broke out on his forehead as his eyes closed tighter.

Robin tossed and turned in his bed. Something was really bothering him. _Was I too hard on Exile? _He thought. _He's been really polite and respectful, and brought down one of our toughest criminals just to get a place to sleep here. Maybe I should go talk to him...  
_  
Robin emerged from his chambers, and headed off towards the guest room. He kept his metal-soled shoes off, so as not to disturb anyone with his footsteps. Back in the guest room, Exile's thoughts were becoming worse and worse. His forehead and mask were starting to soak in his sweat. Robin approached the door, and silently slid it open. "Hey, Exile, you awake?" Whispered a tired Robin. Exile immediatly sensed the presence, and for a brief second, Robin saw what he first thought were two white lights eminating from very angry eyes. Robin gasped and stepped back. He rubbed his eyes and woke up a bit more. This time, he was met with the same calm, cool face Exile had earlier held. "Good evening, Robin. What can I do for you?" Exile rose to his feet, keeping the sheathed Alpha Blade cradled in his hand and arm. Robin frowned and looked down at his feet. "Another target? I am ready." Exile moved to get his cloak, but Robin spoke up and stopped him.

"No. I just need to discuss some things with you. Can we go out to the living room?" Exile nodded. "Yes, let's go." Robin led the black-clad warrior out into the common areas of the tower. Robin dropped on the couch, and motioned Exile to a nearby chair. Exile sat, still holding the Alpha Blade in his arm. He looked at the Titan leader, and knew something was wrong.

"Something is amiss with you. What is the problem?"

Robin heaved a sigh. "I owe you an apology. I didn't trust you earlier, and I was wrong to do so." Exile's eyebrow raised.

"You see, a long time back, we had a problem with-"

Exile butted in. "The girl with command of the earth and ground around her. I have heard of such a fighter. I believe her name was..."

"Terra. It's a pretty sordid story. How much of it have you heard?"

Exile adjusted himself in his seat a bit. "She was a powerful girl who was in search of control. She came to your team, but stabbed you in the back by joining the man you call 'Slade'. In the end, she sacrificed herself to save your team. No doubt she was overwhelmed by inner turmoil."

Robin nodded. "Yeah, that's about it. Still, I used it to prejudge you, and I shouldn't have. I'm really sorry about all that."  
Exile sat in thought for a moment. He looked down at his chest, then returned his attention to Robin. "It's understandable. You are obviously quite protective of your team. It stands to reason you'd be wary of anyone new. You are looking out for their well-being. It is the quality of a great leader." Exile cracked an easy smile, returned by a relaxed one from Robin.

"Thanks. Anyways, you ready to tackle our training course tomorrow? I bet you could set some records on it..." Exile nodded.

Pyro overheard Exile and Robin's conversation just barely from the kitchen. He quickly downed the rest of the pilfered herbal tea, washed the cup out in the sink, and made his way to the living room. The sound of the water and movement of the cup startled Robin, and he quickly turned around to see who the intruder was. He relaxed after recognizing Pyro.  
"Robin," Pyro started quietly, "I might be able to bring her back. The question of the night, do you want her back? It would be much better if we discussed this with the other members, because I think this might not be fair to a few ofthem if we bring her back without asking them. Also, if it fails, destruction of the monument is garunteed. It would be much better if everyone else understood that."

"Sounds like it." Robin said.

"How did you gain their trust?" Exile asked. Pyro laughed slightly.

"I never did tell my end, did I?" he asked. Robin nodded.

"We'd like to hear it." Robin said.

* * *

Flashback

Pyro's car was sitting at a redlight for the past twenty minutes. He cut it off to save gas, and to cool it off as well. The 1965 Shelby GT-500 had not seen a good life, and it showed it. The only new parts on it were a few things to keep the motor running, and a new sterio system. Currently, the sterio was playing a Rob Zombie CD, specifically, Dragula. Pyro was leaning on the driver's side door, waiting for the light. He wasn't paying enough attention to hear the strange sounds coming from ahead of the redlight, until someone slammed into the concrete and rolled into the car, knocking the bumper off. This startled him, so he quickly reached inside the car and cut off the music, and went to check on the person. He was taken aback from the startling beauty of the girl who knocked the bumper off his car.

"Who are you? Are you okay...?" Pyro asked.

"My name is... Starfire. Please! Help my friends..!" the girl said before losing consciousness. She was rather battered, and there was some serious bruising on her. Pyro carefully picked her up and put her int the passenger seat of the car, and got into the driver's side. He started the car, and drove ahead for a while, untill he saw what was a shot from Cyborg at their enemy. He parked the car off to the side, and reached into the back seat, pulling out a set of holsters, and a huge sword. He quickly put the holsters on, and looked as far ahead as he could. The slight moonlight helped him find what he was looking for. He drew back with his sword, and he threw it hard. The hissing of sheilding and the crackle of electricity told him he hit his target. At this point, Starfire regained consciousness, and started watching Pyro. He saw what looked liked some kind of robots turning to him, and they started firing at him. With his right hand he pulled out his silver revolver, flicked it open, and pulled a set of bullets out of his pocket and quickly jammed them in there, put an object back into his pocket, flicked the gun shut, and said two words.

"Lets dance."

He began dodging the blasts, his movements graceful and fluid. He carefully watched one of the robots move into the light as it fired. Keeping an eye on it as he fired and dodged, he began noticing something about them. He dodged several more shots, and found an opening.

He fired twice, just as one of the robits fired, and he hit his marks. He hit the two cannons through the sheild, jamming them. The robot tried to fire, but instead, energy backup caused it to explode. The remaining robots looked at their fallen comrade, then turned their attention back to Pyro. He switched hands with his gun, then brought his right hand into the air, then pulled it back, bringing it into a fist. The big sword shot out from the robot it was jammed into straight at Pyro. He caught it with his free hand and sheathed it somehow over his shoulder. At that moment, the robots resumed their attack. Pyro dodged and fired, and soon, there was only one robot remaining. It signaled for something, then rooled up into a ball and dissappeared into the darkness.

"Starfire, I'm going to look for your friends." Pyro started. He flicked open his revolver, letting the empty shell casings hit the ground, and reloaded it. "If that robot comes for you, use this. I put some special bullets into it, so blast away if it attacks." He said, handing the gun to Starfire, who was now fully awake. Pyro didn't give her time to answer, as he ran on ahead. He found the others, and they talked for a moment, until another wave of robots came. They seemed to be built for speed and physical strength, and there were many of them. They all had their work cut out for them. Pyro had twice his share, taking on twice as many as the others. Pyro used his own form of martial arts, and these robots couldn't seem to counter it. He soon had the robots designed for Starfire taken out, as Pyro had to eliminate those first, seeing as they had lasers of their own as well as normal attacks. Soon, he had all of the robots he was fighting taken out, but then discovered that the other robots were about to destroy their own targets. Pyro took advantage of their single-mindedness, and put his sawed off shotgun to work. He emptied both barrels into his target, slung the breach open, releasing the used cartriges, then slung it closed, and fired again. After taking out two of the robots, the remaing ones decided to change their targets and they all jumped Pyro. In the ensuing chaos, Pyro's shotgun dissappeared. He then began fighting with his big sword, but somehow, it too was ripped from his hands. After that happened, they all at once jumped on top of him. In a scene straight out of The Matrix, Pyro summoned some of his power, and the pile of robots exploded, sending parts and shrapnel everywhere. Small fires burning from the robot parts were everywhere, as well. With the streetlights now out, he summoned several pillars of fire to light the area, and he looked around. He picked up his shotgun and holstered it, the got his sword and sheathed it over his shoulder again.

"Do any of you know a girl named Starfire?" Pyro asked the others.

"Yes, Who are you and what do you know about her?" one of the guys asked. He was wearing a colorful outfit, and his spikey black hair glistened in the light from the pillars of fire.

"Good, My name's Pyro, and she's hurt. I'll go get her." Pyro said. He turned to the direction of where his car was, but he didn't have to go far. The car was parked next to two of the pillars, just sitting there. Starfire had lost consciousness again.

End Flashback

* * *

"And after that, we talked for a while, and I was offered a slot here on the team. I'm not sure why, but even Raven seems to  
trust me now, and I didn't join too long ago." Pyro finished. 

"She has a reason to trust you now, Pyro," Robin said. "After all, you did take a couple of bullets for her in our last fight with Gunsmith." He added.

"I would have done that for anyone else for that matter. Although, it is too bad he was on the dark side, I could really use his skills. My revolver is off two feet at seventy-five yards." Pyro said, regret entering into his voice.

"By the way, Pyro, are you going to try this time? I know for a fact you could loose several seconds on your time." Robin spoke up, changing the subject.

"All right, then, I will," Pyro replied. "Also, make it as hard as you can for me, would you?"

"Are you sure about this?" Robin asked.

"Yes, give me hell, if you want." Pyro replied, sounding a little less than confident.

"Is it me, or are you sounding less than confident about this?" Robin asked, a smirk on his face.  
_  
How did he know? _Pyro thought to himself.

**(Author's Note: Finally got around to posting it. It's been a year in the making, and it's almost done. This is the first of ten chapters. Please R/R and enjoy! -RageTH)  
(Edit: I'm so sorry about this, the format screwed up, so I had to fix it. I hope this looks much better now! -RageTH)**


	2. The Proving Grounds

**Teen Titans  
-  
The Chronicles of Exile and Pyro**

**Chapter Two: The Proving Grounds**

Pyro retied to the roof of the tower to meditate for the rest of the night, even though the storm raged on. No one knew why he meditated, or why he preferred to meditate in torrential storms. A ball of fire surrounded him, hues of red, yellow, and orange. His meditation helped him get his thoughts of the day in order, as well as to keep certain emotions in check. He doesn't get to meditate as often as he wished, and the demand isn't as serious as Raven's is, so he passes to do other things. On his thoughts this night, his plans on going through the training course. He heard the stories from the others on the capabilities of Mad Mod's holographic school, and deep inside him, he wished for Mad Mod to capture him, just to see how he could handle someone who's mental ability is a match for some of the greater minds out there. He knew how tough the course could be, and he was one who likes a challenge occaisonally. The reason he told Robin to make it as hard as he could was for another attempt to impress Raven, whom he had grown secretly 'fond' of in the period of time since he joined the Titans. They were alike in more ways than she realized, and fear kept Pyro from really saying anything, strangely enough. In the secrecy of his room, Pyro practiced some of the magical ability inherited from his mother, who was a mage in some of the darker arts herself. Pyro could levitate things and move them about to an extent, but he had nothing comparable to Raven, with her seemeing limitless power.

The fire around pyro unified in color, and it dissapated. Pyro stood up, a nearby flash of lightning created a strange shadow on the top of the Tower. A grin crossed his face, he felt more confident about this now. _I can do this. I've fought hordes of enemies before, so this should be easy. And besides, I have someone to fight for! _Pyro thought to himself, his grin turning into a smile at his last thought. He took his sword, and jammed it into the roof, stepped back a few feet, held his hand out and muttered something under his breath. A crimson aura surrounded his hand, then his sword. He slowly moved his hand up, and the sword shakily followed, but it soon stilled. His eyes narrowed in concentration, and the sword began moving itself around, slowly shlashing through the air, and after a few moments of this, he slowly brought the sword to his side, where he grabbed it, releasing it from the magical energy and sheathing it over his shoulder. He walked over to the door leading down stairs, stopped for a moment to quickly dry himself off with a momentary burst of flame, then walked downstairs to him room to sleep.

Pyro woke up around Nine-Thirty. Normally, he didn't sleep in this late, and he knew it was all over for breakfast. He knew Beast Boy made too much Tofu, in a vain hope of convincing someone else to share with him. He walked down to the living room in whate he normally wore to sleep, a long sleeve shirt and hunting pants. His hair badly tied back, with a few strands over his face, but most of it under his shirt, as usual.

"Pyro! Just the man I wanted to see! Care to check out my latest creation?" Beast Boy cheerily asked.

"What did you screw up now?" Pyro asked sleepily. Beast Boy gave him a sour look, then whipped out a plate of what appeared to be Pigs-In-A-Blanket, but the hod dog part was colored differently.

"I call it 'Tofus-In-A-Blanket!' Try it!" Beast Boy said exuberantly. Pyro reluctantly tried one, and after the first bite, his face contorted.

"BB, You have to cook these things first, not mildly warm them!" Pyro said unhappily. Cyborg snickered.

"I still can't believe you keep trying that horrible stuff!" Cyborg said.

"Cy, I've eaten worse, trust me. BB just needs to cook these things first."

"I DO cook them!" Beast Boy practically shouted.

"All right then, when you think they're finished, take a TV break. You might be suprised." Pyro replied. Beast Boy huffed at him, and stormed off. Pyro walked over to the couch and hopped over into it. Robin and Cyborg were playing a fighting game.

"Pyro gets the winner!" Cyborg said, hoping to get him to play for once.

"No he doesn't. How many times do I have to tell you, I ain't no good at those kind of games." Pyro replied.

"Then what are you good at?" Robin asked.

"I have Gran Turismo 3, and Ace Combat 4, both of which I'm unbeatable in."

"Is that so?" Robin challenged. "I'll take you on in GT3 after we go through the training course today."

"Your funeral." Pyro casually answered. He yawned, then went up to his room to change. He looked over several outfits before making his decision on a black duster, flexible black pants and a black and white button-up shirt, and his trademark sword within easy reach on his back. He didn't always wear black, but it was one of his favorite colors, and not just because of Raven. He had other clothes, as well as a tan duster, and a never before worn black cowboy hat. He carefully tucked his hair under his shirt and went back downstairs, twenty minutes later. He was surprised to find the others waiting for him.

"And I thought it took a long time for girls to get dressed!" BB shot at Pyro.

"At least I actually try to make myself look decent, instead of wearing the first thing found on the floor." Pyro threw right back, thumping him in the nose as he went by.

"You didn't rent that old heap again, did you, Robin?" Cyborg asked.

"What old heap?" Robin asked back, not getting what Cyborg was talking about, and he didn't look too pleased.

Later on, all but Pyro were flying there in an old Vietnam-era Huey helicopter, and Pyro was voluntarily flying escort duty. The titans weren't sure about whether the helicopter or Pyro in mid-flight was louder. Thankfully, Pyro was keeping his distance. Soon, they arrived at their destination, the same place Mad Mod had kept them for their "reeducation." The Teen Titans had found it quite useful for a new training course after Terra had laid waste to the original. With some modifications and relocation of the control room, they had a new and up to date training center. This time, Pyro was the first to run through, and the others waited in the control room, watching him. Pyro waited on one side, ready to begin.

"Are you sure about this? It's not gonna change what we think about you just because you want this to be a bit easier." Robin said

"Yes I'm sure! Leave the safety locks off and all that! Besides, you're gonna be controlling it from up there, aren't you?" Pyro replied. Robin said nothing in return.

"Begin Session, Stage One." a bland computer voice said. The lights faded for a moment, then came back, revealing a large tiled room, each plate having three sets of numbers.

"I thought he said he would make it hard..." Pyro said as he began running to the other side. He didn't get too far before he suddenly found himself flung into the air straight into an acidic pond with spikes jutting out of it. He escaped death by jamming his sword into a wall and hanging from it. He threw himself back up to the surface, and his sword followed. He looked behind him to see that he had set off dozens of traps by accident. He began walking forward, but stopped as he was surrounded by several strings, towering high into the ceiling.

"What the...?" Pyro started. He watched as the strings suddenly started spinning around and forming themselves into a rope, descending from the ceiling. He stepped out just in time as one of the strings cut into his pants and into his leg, drawing blood. He just so happened to step into another tile that blasted away, and sprayed everything within a few feed with acid. Pyro just managed to get out of the way and to the door, as a pair of laser cannons blasted away at him. He opened the door, jumped to the other side, and slammed it shut. The lights came on to reveal another bare area. _This time,_ Pyro thought, _I know better._

Pyro jumped, and a loud roar ensued as he started to fly across the rather large room. Suddenly, a large pillar came out of the ground, right in Pyro's flight path. He wasn't expecting this, so he slammed into it. He quickly recovered and took off again, barely missing each pillar as they jumped at him. Pyro normally kept his body rigid as he flew, but this time, he had to move more than his feet to get by the pillars. Pyro was barely moving fast enough to stay in the air, and several times he was forced to provide some downward thrust to stay in the air. A few moments passed, and Pyro finally reached the next door. He opened it, stepped inside and closed it.

"Will this be the same for everyone?" Exile asked.

"No, it'll be different for each person. Different stages are used to focus on different abilities. The first two I used just to mess with Pyro." Robin replied.

"You call that messing with Pyro?" Raven asked. She didn't see what was funny about it.

"Stage Two, Level one. Begin." The computer voice said again. Close to fifty Slade robots appeared out of nowhere, some sporting laser guns, other not. They all attacked at once. Pyro pulled out his shotgun and began fighting with the robots, letting loose a blast when there were more than one grouped together, sending them flying. Pyro eventually weeded out the ones without lasers and holstered his shotgun as he dodged laser shots. He then quickly whipped out his silver revolver and shot six times, and four robot heads exploded. _Oh crap! I completely forgot about what was wrong with my gun!_ Pyro thought as he reholstered the revolver and swung around his big sword. He deflected laser shots as he spun around, quickly working his way to the robots. He started running and slashing until he got to the door. It was locked.

"Gaah!"

Pyro started running at thr remaining robots, swiping the sword to deflect laser shots, and took out two of the remaining seven out with the deflected shots. He finished the others off with a good slash to each from his sword. He then quickly ran over to the door. It had unlocked to much of Pyro's relief. He opened the door, walked inside, and shut it.

"Stage Two, Level Two. Begin." The computer voice said again. It seemed to pyro that three times the number of Slade-bots came out this time, all wielding a weapon of some sort. Baseball bats, swords, a few trash cans, a urinal, and various other things that could be potentially used as weapons. Pyro decided to exercise a little bit of his power by causing an explosion in a groups. sending the Slade-bots flying. Their numbers now reduced to something now less than sensible, Pyro began fighting with his big sword, occasionally sending some Slade-bots into the air. This particular section took quite some time, until Pyro started to feel winded, and set off an explosion strong enough to rock the control room, and vaporize everything near Pyro. He then went over and checked the door. He opened it, entered the next room, and closed it.

"Stage Two, Level Three. Begin." Once more the voice said. This time, Slade-bots began pouring out of six holes in the walls, and they didn't stop coming. Pyro took his sword and threw it as hard as he could. It went around the room like a boomerang, occasionally dipping low and sending torsos into the air. Pyro caught it when it came back, and he then promptly threw it into the air. He then began fighting the Slade-bots in hand to hand. A few moments after throwing his sword straight up into the air, Pyro looked up, and suddenly shoved a Slade-bot a few feet in front of him. The sword came straight down the middle of it, and the two halves fell over. Pyro was quickly running out of room to work with, so he decided to make some. He stomped his foot with quite some force, sending out a ring of fire out that blasted everything away. He pulled his sword out of the ground and threw out a palm to one of the holes, causing an explosion there. The hole was sealed by debris, but Slade-bots kept coming out of the five remaining. He caused several more explosions to go off within the ranks of the robots, clearing the room partially enough for Pyro to see two more holes. He sheathed his sword and threw out two hands, causing two more powerful explosions to seal two more holes. Pyro fought his way to another hole, jumped up high and jammed his sword in to the wall. He hung there a moment, then mentally commanded his sword to open. The resulting shockwave piled debris over the hole, leaving two more unsealed. Pyro quickly commanded his sword to close, and the two halves of the blade slid together shut, hiding what was underneath before anyone could see anything. Pyro then ran over to one of the other holes, slashing along the way. He jumped up high just before he got there, and slammed down the blade into the ground. The resulting shock crumbled the floor, creating a chasm right at the hole. Slade-bots were pouring out of the hole into the chasm, flailing comically as they fell. He did the same thing to the last hole, and finished off what remained on the surface. Pyro stopped to rest for a moment, and surveyed the damage to the room. Craters and robot parts were everywhere, large chunks of debris at four of the holes, and two chasms if front of the remaining two. He laughed at the ceaseless number of Slade-bots falling into the chasms. Pyro walked over to the door and tried to open it. It was locked.

"What the...?"

"Pyro! Seal off the two remaining entrances, then you can move on." Robins voice crackled from an earpiece. Pyro held a finger on part of it and said "But I like my new fountains!" He sealed the two remaining and walked over to the door and opened it. He stepped inside and closed it and was greeted by a hovering screen.

"Is this necessary?" Pyro asked. He got no response, so he punched the button that had '100 strength' on it.

"Final Stage, Boss battle. Begin." The voice said, with a hint of finality. a horrendous smell battered Pyro, and the lights flickered on, revealing Plasmus.

"Who's idea was it to make a giant crap monster?" Pyro asked, holding a finger to his earpiece. For a second time, he got no response.

Up in the control room, Robin laughed at Pyro.

_Not so special now, are we?_ Robin thought to himself.

"We have a hard enough time fighting him all together! What makes you think he can handle Plasmus all by himself?" Cyborg chided Robin.

"I wasn't the one who pressed the button."

Pyro ran at Plasmus, avoiding his viscous fists as they lashed out at him. When he got close enough, Pyro jumped onto his head and jammed his sword down into it and held himself up on it for a moment. He mentally commanded it to open itself and shut, using the extreme force of the blade opening to split Plasmus into two halves, splattering on two sides of the room. With another thought, Pyro set the remains on fire, hoping to burn him away. The smell of Plasmus burning was so strong that it even reached the control room, and Pyro saw Beast Boy holding his neck and pointing at it before falling over. Pyro didn't need the hint to know what to do. The fire immediatly went out, and the scorched remains pulled themselves back together.

"Uh oh..."

Time passed, and Pyro had tried almost everything he could do except for a few things that he didn't want the titans to know he could do yet, along with vaporizing Plasmus out of existence. Plasmus had managed to nail Pyro hard a few times, but he usually made him miss, but Pyro was beginning to tire. He made a mistake for the first time, and he became painfully aware of it when Plasmus threw himself at Pyro, slamming him into the wall. He fell down, on the brink of unconsciousness. He watched Plasmus change his direction as he saw the Titans and Exile in the control room. He began making his way over there, and Pyro slowly pushed himself up.

"I'm not done yet, turd-ball!" He said. Plasmus turned his head to see Pyro, just as he threw the sword right at him. It impaled him, disappearing entirely inside his body. Once more, Pyro commanded the sword to flash open and close, and Plasmus exploded again. Pyro felt something inside him stirring, A side of himself that he never knew he had. He felt the power that his mother had and had passed on to him through the bloodline strengthen itself. He watched part of Plasmus for a fist and prepare to swing at the window, and he felt the power grow stronger. The then felt something take over his body. He didn't realize it, but his eyes began glowing a crimson color. His right hand rose up, and it formed an aura around it the same color of his eyes. He then began to say something semi consciously.

"Raserei... Steuerung... Stärke!" He finished, and all of a sudden, all of Plasmus formed into a ball, and an arc between Pyro's hand and the ball of Plasmus formed with what sounded like a clap of thunder. With an evil grin, Pyro yanked on the arc, _hard._ The Plasmus ball went flying across the room, into the wall. Pyro yanked again, sending him hard into another wall. Pyro repeated this process a few more times in different directions, until he completely lost his presence of mind and forced the ball to become smaller and smaller. A voice started to break through into his head, calling his name. No, it wasn't his name, only his nickname, merely a distraction, Pyro unconsciously thought, and he brought around the small ball, and slung it as hard as he could, breaking the arc at its apex.

"PYRO!" A voice yelled into his earpiece. The voice brought him back, snapping his consciousness back to normal, the lights going out in his eyes. He looked and saw Plasmus slam into the wall, and the ooze that formed his body run into a puddle of whatever he was. Pyro looked dumbfounded towards the control room, everyone in there but Exile looking at him as if he were God himself.

"What... What just happened...?" He asked softly.

"What just happened out there?" Raven demanded as Pyro entered the control room.

"I dunno. What did happen?" Pyro asked, annoyed at Raven. Robin pointed at a screen playing a replay of what Pyro unconsciously did.

"I've never seen you do anything like that before, Pyro. Why didn't you tell any of us that you could do this?"

"I've never seen me do that before either! I didn't even know I could take it that far!"

"'Take it that far'?" Star repeated. "Please explain."

"Honestly, Yes. I admit I can do something like that. I can do a little bit of what Raven can do, but it's nowhere near as powerful as what she could do. I can manipulate small objects to a certain extent, but don't expect me to start throwing cars around anytime soon."

"You seemed to throw Plasmus around pretty easily." Cyborg quipped.

"Just don't ask me to do it again, because I don't think I can. ...Dammit... I feel like I lost my mind back there, and it came back as a train..." Pyro said. The others except for Exile didn't seem to understand what he was trying to say.

"He's telling the truth. That is not something he can normally do." Exile said.

"You should listen; he knows what he talking about." Pyro said, holding a hand to his head. "Does anyone have any aspirin?" He asked, not really expecting an answer. He left the room for a moment.

"Alright Exile, It's your turn. I've got it set up to focus on stealth and speed." He said, handing him an earpiece. "Tell me when you're ready, and good luck!" The areas where Pyro went through disappeared, and a clean white room remained. Exile pushed a button signaling he was ready.

"Exile," Robin whispered through the earpiece, "Just so you know, the room is covered by cameras, there are lasers near the floor, and there are two-" He was cut off.

"-Armed guards, yes. My objective is to reach the door?" Exile quietly asked.

"Yes. Without being detected by the bots. All the lasers and cameras are linked to them, and they're programmed to watch out for you. Go whenever you're ready" Robin answered.

The room shifted around a bit, and soon presented Exile with a large ballroom sized area, with several large pillars all over. Detection lasers and cameras were placed on some of the pillars, and two Slade-bots stood by the door with thermal blasters. The lights dimmed to a very soft glow. "Perfect..." thought Exile. As the Titans looked on, Exile's image blurred out, and it was anyone's guess where he was. The Sladebots began their patrol around the room. A small tapping sound in a corner of the room was quickly fired upon by the bots. As they approached, they found nothing more than a small metal sphere that had been bouncing in the corner. Realizing they had been deceived, the bots hurried back towards the door. "Very crafty..." murmured Robin to himself. In another corner of the room, the masked ninja saw his goal. About 100 yards away was the door, next to which was a green button, which he figured he needed to hit to shut off the detection systems. Between the two, however, was an intricate grid of lasers. Exile noticed a flaw in the design. Towards the top of the grid, 25 feet above, was a larger opening. The Titans watched a 3D map of the room show a blinking red light, locating his earpiece. "He's in front of the grid..." said Cyborg.  
"Yeah," replied Beast Boy, "and I'm sure he's seen the opening, but how's he plan on getting up there? He can't fly..."

"OK, Exile," whispered Robin into the earpiece "how do you plan on getting up there?" His tone carried a bit of arrogance, but he was curious to see if the new guy could pull this off. The ninja looked around at the pillars surrounding the grid. "A shadow can go where it pleases, Robin…" Every set of eyes in the control room followed the red beacon as Exile skillfully and quickly leapt from pillar to pillar, going higher with each kick. Before they knew it, the black blur was through the grid, and landed silently on the other side. Exile pushed the green button, and the bots and grid deactivated. In a small prep room, Exile's earpiece came to life again.

"Very nice, Exile!" called Pyro, "Next up, you've got a room of the same size, same structure. But this time, there aren't any lasers. All you gotta do is defeat every enemy you come across in the room and the door will unlock. Got it?"  
"Are the enemies to be defeated, or killed?"

Pyro sweatdropped. "Uh, well, they're just robots. Don't worry about it. We just want to see your full potential here. Is that OK?"

"Very well, I shall do my best."

"Give 'em hell, Exile." And with that, the earpiece fell silent.

Before entering the next room, Exile noticed there was light emanating from under the doorframe. He would not have the advantage of darkness this time. _I should_, he thought to himself, _go about this another way. Stealth cannot be an option here. Perhaps misdirection can…_

Exile's fist pounded the green button in the small, dark chamber. The door shot open, and just as it did, his eyes widened a bit. 20 Sladebots noticed the intruder, and all simultaneously fired at the doorway. A huge explosion rocked the doorway, but as the smoke cleared, they did not find a body. Each bot quickly scanned the room, trying to find their target. One pointed to the upper corner of the room, and they all began firing. Exile quickly jumped to another corner, and began moving around the perimeter of the room, dodging blaster fire with grace and speed. _I was hoping I would not have to use these just yet…_ thought Exile, reaching behind himself with both hands as he ran. Suddenly, the target stopped. Exile froze as the twenty bots stared him down. Ten aimed their blasters at him, and fired. Exile quickly dodged to one side, and opened his hands to his sides. Just as fast, he shut them into fists. Between each of his fingers were small, black, triangular spikes. "Holy crap!" Exclaimed the on looking Beast Boy, "Did he just grow those out of his hands or something?"

"No," replied Pyro, "those look like the tips of throwing knives… this ought to get good…"

Exile's image blurred out again, and reappeared over the crowd of bots. Before any could react, Exile's body seemed to hover in midair for a brief second, as he released the blades with two powerful swings. 6 bots fell, with the knives stuck in their foreheads. The others prepared to fire on the airborne ninja, but he disappeared again. "Such speed and precision he has!" exclaimed Starfire.

Landing on the far side of the room, Exile turned and looked back at the remaining 12 bots. Robin decided to have them approach Exile another way. Typing a few commands into the computer, Robin disabled their blasters, and pushed their speed and hand-to-hand combat abilities to their fullest potential. Exile's earpiece crackled as Robin informed him of the change.

"Well, they sure as hell can't hit you at range. Let's see how you fare up close and personal… I've maxed out their agility and melee skills. Good luck!"

"HOLD!" commanded Exile. Robin's finger stopped just above the final button to reactivate the bots. _Aww man!_ thought Cyborg. _Why's the new dude wimpin' out on us? He was kicking butt!_ His question was soon answered, and each set of eyes in the room widened as Exile gave them a request. "Give them each a melee weapon of some sort." Six sweatdrops appeared back in the control room.

"Uh… ok man." Robin nervously responded. He punched in a command, and a small portion of the wall opened, revealing a collection of standard swords. Each robot walked to the wall and took one. Robin, thinking this may be a bit much for Exile, turned a dial back a few notches, reducing their overall abilities. The speaker in the control room then relayed Exile's voice.

"Robin, I ask that you not change their abilities to anything but their fullest. I want them to act exactly as they would outside of this facility. Training against a weak opponent does not hone one's edge." Exile stood in wait as each robot assumed a powerful stance with their weapons.

Robin did not respond, but turned the dial back to its highest setting, thinking to himself, _I can't believe I'm doing this…_ Exile remained still as the robots quickly surrounded him. Looking around him at the 12 ready bots, Exile finally crouched slightly, and swung his left hand out, revealing the handle of his weapon. His right hand rested lightly on the handle, and he stayed there in wait. After holding off for about 30 tense seconds, three robots charged Exile from the left, right, and back, each with their swords held over their heads, ready to cut the ninja in half. Just before they reached him, a quick flash was seen, and each robot froze. Exile remained in the same position, and five seconds later, all three of the robot heads fell from their bodies. "Robin?" Exile asked into his earpiece, "Would you disable the lights? I would like to try fighting them in darkness." Robin couldn't find words to respond with, but pushed a switch, and the light was gone. A high-pitched tone could be heard as each of the robots engaged their night vision capabilities. Pyro and the Titans kept an eye on the 3D map, showing a beacon representing Exile and the remaining 9 robots. The 9 white dots converged quickly on the red. Slashes and sparks flew left and right. Exile was able to keep up for a while, but soon found himself overwhelmed by the onslaught of robots. A hard thud, followed by a pained grunt prompted Robin to turn the lights back on. Exile was seen slumped in a corner, bleeding and bruised. One robot lowered his leg, having been the one to kick Exile into the wall. The others lowered their swords, Exile's blood dripping from some of them. Slowly, he rose, obviously in bad shape. "Exile!" called Robin through the earpiece, "You OK? You don't look too good…"

"I underestimated them. It was foolish of me, undisciplined, I should know better… Keep the lights on, but send them again, with the same abilities." Exile stood, ripped his torn cloak off, and flung it to the corner. "I _will_ defeat them. I must."

The nine robots charged again. Exile gritted his teeth, and ran right back at them. He decided it would be better to concentrate on each individual robot instead of the group. He parried the first robot's sword, and kicked him away, but quickly realized it would not be wise to charge them head-on. Deciding he needed time to think a new strategy out, he jumped to a corner of the room, and waited there. _I am going about this all wrong. I have to find a way to use them to my advantage…_ Exile then noticed the spacing of his enemies. They were quite close together. _That's it! I can use them against themselves_. Exile swung his sword out to his right, then left, and sheathed it. His earpiece exploded with Robin's voice conveying everyone's question, "Exile! What the hell are you doing!"

"This is going to slow me down. I will retrieve it later…" Exile then took off the earpiece, and placed it on the floor. _Concentrate, Exile._ He thought to himself, _you did this before, when you trained with the Iga ninja clan… you can beat them with misdirection._ In a flash, he was nowhere to be seen. Sensors and cameras could not find the rapidly-moving ninja, nor could any of the robots, as they scanned every inch of the room, slowly backing into one large group at the center of the room.

_Perfect. _

The ninja then took notice of the lights in the ceiling. Several small bulbs illuminated the room. The robots' heads jolted in different directions as half of the bulbs were quickly destroyed by well-aimed throwing knives. The room was darkened considerably. "You know, he could've just asked," said a slightly annoyed Cyborg, "I spent hours installing those new dimmer bulbs!"

"He's taking control of the situation. The robots would adjust more easily to the situation if you dimmed the lights through the controls" Raven calmly explained.

_Now!_

Every robot's attention was directed to the front of the room, as the ninja reappeared about 10 yards from the robots, walking towards them with pure seriousness and determination, but still bleeding from his earlier wounds.

"What is he DOING?" Exclaimed Beast Boy, "He's suicidal! Those bots are gonna shred him! It's nine against one!"

"Not necessarily…" chimed in Raven. That earned a raised eyebrow from Pyro and a glance from him in her direction. Raven kept her attention focused on the screen. Just then, all but one set of eyes, Raven's, grew quite wide. At the same time, the robot controls and sensors went haywire, as their target was dramatically changed.

A slight flash appeared around Exile, and suddenly, there wasn't one ninja approaching them, but five! All walking in step and making the same movements. The robots quickly regained control of themselves and spaced out. Just as quickly as the ninjas appeared, all of them were gone. Exile reappeared behind one of the robots, and a robot behind him swung his sword, but only cleaved the head of his partner as Exile sped out of the way of the blade. Exile repeated the rapid movement, and used it to dispatch all but two robots. Finally, he stopped about 20 feet from the remaining two robots, walking towards them very slowly, very deliberately. One took a step back from the advancing, bruised, bleeding, ninja.

"No. You will not evade death." In a flash, Exile was past both robots, as each fell without their heads. Exile sheathed his weapon, calmly returned to the dropped earpiece, and replaced it. The first voice heard was Robin's.

"Hey, uh… you need a break before the last room? You look like you're in pretty bad shape." Robin punched in a command, and a small floating drone with a red cross floated towards him, opening its top to reveal a large assortment of medical supplies. "I can also send our resident doctor down if ya need." Raven rolled her eyes as the others chuckled to themselves.

"Swordsman!" chimed in Starfire, "please allow yourself some time to heal! You will require all your strength for the final room!"

"I thank you for the offer, but do not need your supplies." Exile walked toward his discarded cloak. Holding it up to about shoulder length, he unsheathed his weapon, made a series of quick slashes, and returned it to its casing. A few small strips fell from the tattered cloak. Exile knelt to them, and tied them around his wounds. "Man," said Robin "I hope he knows a good tailor. That _was _a nice looking cloak."

With makeshift bandages around his arm, knee, and shoulder, Exile rose and walked to the final prep room. "So, will I also be fighting this Plasmus, as you call him?"

"Nope. You've got someone else, dog." Returned Cyborg. "You get Cinderblock: An eight-foot tall concrete giant with a really bad attitude. You can punch and kick him around a little bit, but I don't think your sword is gonna help you much; this sonofagun has some tough skin."

"Very well. Where may I put my sword? I would rather not drop it in the room, else it be used against me."

Cyborg keyed in a command, and another drone approached Exile just before he reached the prep room. It was shaped like a long, thin, box. Nearing Exile, it opened, and beheld a red silk-lined interior. He detached the sheathed sword from behind him, and placed it gently in the box. The drone beeped twice, shut its lid, and floated up to a small opening near the top of the room. "I have your word that the sword will remain in your protection?"

"Yeah man, no problem. It'll be right up here with us." The drone entered the control room; Pyro approached it, and spoke into the microphone connecting them to the ninja's earpiece.

"Hey, Exile, you mind if I take a look at your sword? I can clean it up a bit for you if you want. Those robots can sometimes 'bleed' some nasty stuff on a blade, if you know what I mean."

"NO!" came the return. "The sword is not to be fully unsheathed. Withdraw the blade, blood must be tasted." Pyro slowly opened the drone's lid, and carefully removed the sheathed weapon. _Wow,_ Pyro thought, _this thing is really light! No wonder he can move it so well…_ He slowly slid the weapon halfway out of its sheath, and noticed a few small Japanese characters carved into the blade near the handle. Pyro made a mental note to ask Exile what they meant after training. Beast Boy peered over Pyro's shoulder at the weapon. "Oooooh, it's really shiny!"

"Yeah it is. It's a straight katana, but I've never seen one this nice before. This must've been crafted by a master. It's a thing of beauty." Pyro reached into his pocket, removed the cloth he used to clean his own sword, and held it to Raven. "Hey, can you clean this off first? I'd hate to use this old dingy rag on a weapon this nice." Raven said nothing, but took the cloth in her hand. Her eyes and hand glowed white, then returned to normal as she handed the cloth back, slightly brushing his hand.

"Here. Don't make a habit of this. I am not the team Laundromat."

"Hey, thanks!" Pyro looked at the cloth; it was much cleaner. He ran it along the blade, wiping off just a few small drops of oil from the Sladebots. _Man, most times when I chop through them, a bunch stays on my sword. This thing must be ridiculously smooth. Well, that, and I suppose it helps that he moves fast as hell. _Pyro finished the cleaning, and slid it back into the sheath. All eyes were again on the screen as the bandaged Exile approached the final prep room and entered. Robin was about to ask him what level of ability he wanted Cinderblock at, but was stopped by Exile's voice.

"I won't be healing any more than I am now. It is time…" With that, he pounded the red button labeled 100.

"Hey!" called Robin, "listen to reason! You're in no condition to take him on at one hund-!"

"Open…the door." He crossed his arms and waited for the door to open.

"Look man," Cyborg said turning towards Robin, "ain't no one gonna stop this guy right now. Just open the door." Robin sighed, and pushed the button as everyone looked on. Exile entered a huge, empty square white room, a few steps away from the door, which shut behind him. Suddenly, a mechanical grinding was heard, and Exile shifted his eyes about the room as some of the panels of wall detached and turned around. As they reset themselves in the wall, Exile noticed Robin's discs covering the panels. His attention was returned to the middle of the room, as part of the floor dropped away. The stone leviathan known as Cinderblock was brought up into the room by way of a rising platform.

"Exile, please! Do not bring more harm to yourself!" called Starfire through the earpiece.

The ninja sighed, but remained firm. "Pain is a state of mind, and I do not mind pain…" With that, he removed the earpiece, dropped it to the floor, and stood ready for the battle.

Cinderblock came charging at his wounded target. His massive fist came crashing down, and obliterated the floor, sending dust and debris everywhere. As it cleared, Cinderblock roared as he did not find the ninja underneath his fist. He looked behind him, and there he stood. "Fool…" Cinderblock whirled around and swung again, but never connected. Now the ninja was aside him, still with arms crossed. Exile took a second to notice one of the discs on the wall. A red R was emblazoned on it. _These ought not to be run into…_ _maybe I can use them against my opponent. _Exile's image vanished as Cinderblock swung at him again. A throwing knife suddenly zipped by his head. As Cinderblock's eyes followed it, the blade buried itself into one of the discs. An instant later, it exploded, taking several other discs with it. Exile had not expected such a large explosion, and several pieces of shrapnel sliced into his arms and chest. He stumbled back a few steps, as Cinderblock fell, having been knocked down by the explosion. Both slowly returned to their original positions. _I cannot continue this fight much longer. It must end before I do._ Exile thought. Figuring the walls were his best weapons, he jumped to the mined wall furthest away from Cinderblock. _I'd better be fast enough to pull this off…_

Cinderblock rose and turned to face his target again. The shards of metal in Exile's body were causing some bad bleeding, but he was managing to hold pose, and concentrate only on his opponent. _He may stop if he realizes I'm gone before he attacks. I will have to move at the very last second…_ Exile knew that would be tough. His body was wearing out from the fights, and the lesions and injuries certainly didn't help. Cinderblock growled as he faced his target. Exile could feel the mines lightly brushing his wounded skin. This was as close as he could get. He only hoped Cinderblock's momentum would carry him right into the wall. Cinderblock came rushing at the ninja again, preparing to slam him right through the explosive wall. Exile waited until the concrete goliath was 3 feet away. _This is it…_ Exile's image blurred out, reappeared back by the far explosive wall, and assumed a defensive stance. Cinderblock couldn't stop in time, and ran right into the wall. Every mine on the wall went off in a colossal detonation that shook the entire training facility to the very pillars supporting it on the ocean floor. Cinderblock exploded into thousands of pieces that pounded Exile's body.

As the smoke cleared, Exile dropped his defensive stance, bleeding from his torso and arms. Amidst the rubble, he found Cinderblock's head, still growling at the ninja who had outsmarted him. "I've followed you, Cinderblock. I've borne witness to your horrors. You've caused the Titans, and the people, too much pain. You shall cause no more…" Cinderblock roared defiantly as Exile picked up his head.

"Wait! What the hell is he doing!" screamed Robin.

"No way!" said Beast Boy.

"Oh man…" said Cyborg.

"No!" exclaimed Starfire.

Exile turned to face another unexploded wall, and hurled the monster's head. It exploded into a fine powder. "It's over..."

Robin and the others could do little more than stare at the ninja in the room below. "How could he do something so heartless?" cried Starfire, about to break into tears. The same question seemed to be on everyone's mind.

Pyro thought for a minute, and then broke the silence as he faced the Tameran. "Starfire, Exile is almost your polar opposite. A ninja's heart needs to be just as cold as his blade. They won't kill if they don't have to, but when their mission requires it, they must never hesitate. He has done what we could not. We have always held back when fighting our enemies, so as to avoid anyone's death. It is almost as if we were denying our own desires. Exile remained true to his mission."

Raven had been taking in what he said, and raised her eyebrow, rather impressed with Pyro's answer. She turned back to look into the room, and saw Exile sitting cross-legged on the floor, amongst Cinderblock's remains. Before anyone could ask what he was doing, Raven spoke up. "Pyro's right. Look at him, unstoppable and merciless in battle, but pious in the aftermath. The warriors of Japan believe that all living things become one with the Buddha after death, and they must always respect the Buddha. It is an interesting kind of morality. Watch, when he returns, he will act as if it never happened…"

They returned to the Tower,and like Raven said, Exile acted as if nothing had happened. Pyro decided to take some time alone, and went to the beach by Titan's Tower. There, he meditated for a while on trying to better understand his abilities that seemed to come out back at the training session. Time passed, and he dropped out of his meditation. He tried picking up a small stone and hurling it as hard as he could out into the water.

'Plip!'

"Dammit..."

And ideas suddenly hit him. He looked around carefully, then picked up a rather large boulder and heaved it into the water.

'PALOOSH!'

"You'll never get any better doing that." A condescending voice said. Roughly feminine, and Pyro recognized it immediately.

"How long have you been watching me...?" Pyro asked. Raven was one of the few people he could really 'sense' the presence of. He just hadn't been paying any attention, and Raven could shield herself if she wanted.

"Long enough." She replied. Using her power, she picked up a good sized rock, and sent it to Pyro.

"Catch!" She said. Pyro threw out a hand, and used as much power as he could, but he couldn't stop it. Instead, it hit him straight in the chest, causing him to loose his balance and fall over. He landed just inches from the water.

_If I had landed in the water, I would SO be taking her with me, tight suit be damned._ Pyro thought. He knew that the heavy clothing he was wearing could have caused him some trouble in the water. He shoved the rock off of him, then flipped himself back up.

"I figured you would know that I'm not that good at this yet. Mind not throwing anything else at me?" Pyro asked.

"You aren't going to get much better but just throwing stones." She replied, her tone more serious.

"Maybe... Maybe not." Pyro said, his tone still somewhat joking.

"If you can be serious about it, I can help you develop your powers, but you have to be willing to practice every day."

"I know that." Pyro's tone leveled out. He took his big sword, looked for a large rock, and found one. He put it on top of it, setting it up so that the handle stuck in the air at an angle, then stomped on the handle, sending it flipping, straight for one of the windows of the tower. Pyro seriously concentrated on it, and slowed it down a good bit, but in the end, Raven had to intervene. Pyro released it, and Raven sent it back to him.

"Thanks," He said, resheathing the sword. "Maybe tomarrow, then?" He said, with a slight smile.

"We'll see." Raven replied, walking back to the Tower.

"Later!" Pyro said, just before an insanely loud rumble filled the air. Raven looked up and saw Pyro swiftly gaining altitude, then turn towards the city, contrails pointing in his direction.

Pyro flew on for a while, letting the feeling of wind hitting his face at a few hundred miles per hour comfort him. He found his distination and circled a few miles above it, allowing himself to slow down natrually, before suddenly dropping out of the sky. Several feet before he would hit the ground, he arrested his fall with a strong blast of jet propulsion. He couldn't help but to smile at himself as he noticed the startes from the other pedestrians. He swiftly crossed the road and found himslef in front of a store.

"I think this is it..." Pyro said, consulting a note in his pocket. "Hot Topic...? Strange name, but whatever works." He said to himself before walking in. He nodded at the girl behind the counter as he walked in, and began browsing the contents of the store.

_Wow... Lots of dark gothy stuff. I admit I like black, but ...wow... All sorts of stuff here, even energy drinks? _He thought to himself, looking at a can of some kind of energy drink. From what he could discern, it was cherry flavored. One of the few fruit flavors he didn't like.

_Cherry and strawberry... The human obsession over these two fruits boggle the mind... One seemingly standing for innocence, the other for sensuality. I just don't get it. _Pyro pondered to himself, on the topic of fruits. He soon worked his way over to the clothing line, and found a few items he liked. One of them, a long coat, looked a bit expensive to him, considering that the longcoat he had he partially made himself. He skipped over it and found a few shirts he liked. He picked them up, went to the counter and paid for them, neither person exchanging words. He left the store, crouched down a moment, then jumped, the rumble from the afterburners shaking the windows of the store. He flew slowly at first, attempting to cram the merchandise in some pockets of his duster, then sped up heading to the Tower.

He arrived there, went to his room, put the clothing up, then abruptly left for the garage. He passed by the others doing their afternoon thing, and they didn't even notice him. Once he got to the garage, he pulled the covers off of his car, the '67 Shelby GT 500, looking a bit better now. a few fender replacements and a new hoodgave it the colors of the primer rainbow. Somehow, none of the glass was cracked anymore, and the dashboard looked only a little bit sunworn. The tires were still dry-rotted, and the wheels dirt encrusted. One of the few things Pyro enjoyed about it at this point was the poor exaust system. It was the loudest thing in the city. The occaisonal backfire didn't help, either. He didn't drive it much, as it still needed much interior and exterior work. Pyro never replaced the glass in it, and it was all pretty messed up on it when he bought it. When he started it, he was suprised to notice that it sounded better than before. He could tell now that the car had a stroker motor in it now, and it just sounded rough now.

"Definitly not stock, and damn, I've never even touched the motor! I guess the guy was serious when he called it a 'toned down Christine'..." He said to himself. He shifted it into first, and revved the motor. He messed with the shifter a bit, and all it did was rev.

"Shift into gear, dammit!"

It finally caught, and it rumbled out of the garage. He drove slowly for a minute, rolling down the window, and looking for Cyborgs secret tunnel he used to drive his car to the mainland. He found it, and drove in. The sound echoed loudly through the tunnel as Pyro accelerated, the widn whipping through the interior. He knew the sun was starting to set, so he flipped on the headlights. three of the taillights didn't work, so he was also planning to stop by an auto parts store. He soon found the grocery store he was looking for, and parked the car next to a handicapped zone, as it was the closest to the store. He walked in, got what he wanted and left. He set the items in the passenger seat, which before had part of the spring poking out, but now it didn't.

When he returned to the Tower, It was just after nightfall. He put the stuff up he bought in his room, leaving out a slender tall can. He brought it with him to the living room. While en route, he read the can.

_Skurge Energy Drink; For The Vegetarian in Everyone. Yeah, right. There's a reason why I don't like Terran salads. Stupid green leafy fauna... _Pyro thought. He entered the living room, and called to Beast Boy.

"Hey, BB! five bucks says you can chug this in less than a minute!" Pyro said. Beast Boy took the challange, and Pyro threw him the can. He did indeed chug the contents in less than a minute, but the results were a bit more than Pyro expected. After enough time to digest some of it, Beast Boy became thoroughly annoying to everyone. He even made the usually semi-hyper Starfire look look sleepy and worn out. BB ran up the wall and around the room, seeming charged with a thousand volts of electricity. Now he was a ground squirrell, and had pretty much seen everyone at every angle.

"Remember the microwave scene in Idle Hands? I think he's actually going _faster_!" Pyro remarked. Cyborg and Pyro were chasing him around the room, and Pyro just managed to catch him. He held him up by the tail, and BB clawed like mad, and by pure reflex, he got thrown into the wall. BB just bounced off and kept going.

"You little...!" Pyro started, massaging his hand. BB seemed to have the energy of the Energizer Bunny, rearranging Robin's hair, much to his dismay, then taking refuge in Starfire skirt -which resulted in a big scare when Pyro tried to stop BB with a rubber bullet and missed, putting a hole on the edge of her skirt-, then BB dissappeared up the stairs.


	3. A Ninja's History, a Knight's Falling

**Teen Titans  
-  
The Chronicles of Exile and Pyro**

**Chapter Three: A Ninja's History, A Knight's Falling**

Pyro woke up with a bad feeling the next morning, but he tried to hide it as he got dressed and went down stairs. He was wearing a shirt with a design on the front focusing on the large Swedish Cross. The day seemed to get a little better when, for once, Raven noticed his arrival.

_Then again, she might have noticed me because I'm wearing a short sleeve shirt this time, another first since I arrived here. _He thought. The few scars on his arms were faded, but still fairly visible to anyone who looked. Also quite visible was the fact his arms were quite muscular. Cyborg was the first to notice.

"Woah! Since when did you have big guns like that?" he asked.

"I dunno, actually," Pyro replied, looking at his arms. "I never really noticed it before."

"And where did you get that shirt?" Cyborg asked.

"I took a detour yesterday. Some store called Hot Topic." Pyro said. Cyborg looked at Raven, then asked,

"Rae, did you have anything to do with this?"

"No." She replied, not looking up from her book. Cyborg looked at Pyro carefully.

"Are you okay? Have any strange feelings recently?" Cy questioned. Pyro gave him a strange look.

"...What? What are you going on about? Can't a guy wear a shirt without interrogation?"

"You've never worn shirts like that before. It was all ways long sleeves, or you wore a duster."

"Ummm, I'm not exactly seeing your point." Pyro said, sounding confused.

"You've been with us for a few months, and the only peices of black clothing you've ever worn was the duster, longcoat, and your shoes. for the past month, you've been starting to wear more black." Cyborg said.

"I see what he means, Pyro. Now you admitted you went to Hot Topic." Robin said.

"I think Pyro's getting Ravenated." BB said. Pyro started coughing, trying to hold back laughter.

"I resent that." She said, giving Beast Boy a look that scared him into submission. At this point, Starfire decided to jump into the conversation.

"Friends! I have overheard your conversation, and what I believe Pyro is doing is one of the five hundred twenty-seven signs of-" She was cut off. While she was talking, she dragged both Pyro and Raven together. Pyro decided to interrupt.

"Starfire! Look, a Trogdor!" he said, pointing in a random direction. She yelped and looked where he pointed, and then Pyro made good his escape.

"There is no trog- ...Pyro?" She asked, looking for him. He was nowhere to be seen. For a period of time, no one said anything. Then Beast Boy remembered something, and went to Exile, sharpening his knives on a small well worn stone.

"Exile! I just remembered something! You said you would tell me where you came from and all that! Wanna tell me now?"

Exile chuckled slightly to himself. He hadn't entirely expected Beast Boy to remember that. He returned the stone to a pocket, and picked up the knives. He held them in his hands, then quickly closed and reopened them. They were gone. "Y'know, I half-expected that to happen…" muttered Beast Boy.

Exile sighed slightly, and adjusted himself in his seat as BB plopped down in a nearby chair. Taking a deep breath, Exile began.

"I was not always like this. Back when I was a small child, I had two loving parents... we were a very happy family. One day, when I was about five years old, we were on a flight to Moscow, I do not remember why. We were over the Vladivostok, and the Siberian mountain chains. Suddenly, the plane shook violently. Something was very wrong. I saw that we were starting to descend, and I simply believed we were landing. Then, my mother grabbed me and held me tight to her body. She was very scared of something, but I had no idea. Others on the plane also began to scream in fear". Exile paused for a second, looking down at his feet. He slightly adjusted the mask covering his eyes. Beast Boy adjusted himself in his seat, but his eyes remained fixed on the ninja. It was hard to hold BB's attention, but Exile sure seemed to be doing a good job so far.

"I looked back outside, and realized we were nowhere near any cities, and we were quite close to the ground. As the plane struck the ground", he paused for a second, "it… cracked. I was torn from my mother, and thrown outside. As luck would have it, I flew into a snowdrift. The plane made this awful scratching, grinding sound as it slid across the ice. I looked up, and could only watch as it slammed into a mountain. Not knowing what else to do, I took some extra clothes from nearby suitcases that were also flung from the plane, put them on for warmth, and just started walking towards the last city I saw. As luck would've had it, I walked along these train tracks, and eventually heard a train behind me. I hid behind a nearby drift and waited for it. Fortunately, the Trans-Siberian train does not run very fast, and I was able to steal aboard a car that stocked grain. Not knowing how long it would be before we arrived, I sustained myself with snow and the grain. The train eventually stopped, and I managed to sneak out.

I walked all over the town. It was a small fishing village on the Vladivostok Peninsula. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to communicate with anyone, since I didn't speak Russian. I lived on whatever I could steal from garbage cans, restaurants, and fishing boats. One day, I attempted to take some fish from a Japanese fisherman. He saw me, and gave chase. I managed to elude him for some time, but he caught up. I struggled with him, yelled at him, but stopped, when he spoke English to me. After I returned the fish to him, he asked what I was doing, as I certainly did not look to be from the area. I told him about the crash, and that I had nowhere to go. He thought for awhile, and said he knew of someone who may be able to help.

He took me to his ship, and we sailed for Japan. It was a long journey, but the fisherman proved a good conversationalist. He told stories of this man we were going to meet as if he were legend. A master of the shadow; invisible to all when he wanted to be. He was able to destroy evil in the blink of an eye. His morals were beyond reproach; good versus evil. He could not be stopped.

Eventually, the ship reached the Japanese coast, and we debarked. It was in the mountains, and our climb began. I asked the man why we did not take many supplies for the trip, but he said our destination was not far. I looked all over the mountains, but could not find any hospitable areas. Still, I trusted and followed the man. After a few hours, we reached a very long set of stone stairs. I could not even see the top. We began our ascent, and eventually came to this modest, yet beautiful house. The man motioned me toward the sliding door, and as I approached, this man… this being… just appeared right in front of me, out of thin air. He was clad completely in black. There was a scarf around his face; he had two shiny metal guards on his shins and a sort of… small metal decoration over the cloth on his forehead. The only visible part of him was his eyes. Naturally, I was quite scared, and stumbled back. The fisherman caught me. He smiled, and told me to wait nearby. I went and sat upon a large rock. The fisherman began a conversation with this man of legend, but in Japanese. After about five minutes, the fisherman returned and kneeled to me. 'This is Master Hattori, the man I told you about. He is impressed with your story, and admires your strength. He said he is willing to take you in and train you in the ways of the shadow', he said. Not seeing anywhere else to turn to, I accepted. The man smiled, wished me luck, and walked back down the stairs.

Master Hattori said nothing, but slid the door open, and waited. I walked inside. I took off my shoes and looked for a place to sleep. He walked to another room and opened that door. It was as if he could tell what I was thinking, without any conversation. Behind the door was a simple bed, which was quite inviting. As I took the extra clothes off, I turned back, and Master was gone. He returned with a bowl of rice, and chopsticks. I sat on the floor, and he showed me how to hold the chopsticks to eat. He was very patient, and guided my hands, showing how to hold them. The rice was bland, but I needed food badly, and gladly ate. I was exhausted, and quickly fell asleep.

The next morning, I awoke to find a small, simple black outfit. As I moved to put it on, the man appeared in front of me again. He finally spoke. 'Today, your training begins. You will put everything before this day behind you.' He handed me a mask, similar to this one. 'You will hide your eyes, your consciousness, from all, until I deem you ready.' I put on the mask and clothes, and from that day, we began. For several years, he taught me basic movement, stealth, and balance. We almost never spoke at all, but there was something very reassuring about him. He would tend to my wounds when I was injured, and allow me extra food and rest when I was sick. As the years passed, I became more and more self-sufficient. I was able to spend weeks on end on my own in the mountains.

After spending about 6 or 7 years training with basic maneuvering, Master Hattori took me to another part of Japan, where I met a sword maker. He watched me train on his grounds for some time, and then created a sword specifically for my style, the Alpha Blade. I spent the next seven years training to become a complete warrior. He taught me how to control my weapons as extensions of my own body. He also made sure I learned never to kill unless absolutely necessary.

One morning, I awoke to find him gone. He left this." Exile handed a small parchment to Beast Boy, who was still somewhat frozen in awe from the story. On the parchment was written:

"Exile, I must leave. You may use the dojo as you see fit. Remember… strength and honor."

Beast Boy flipped the parchment over, and found a series of Japanese characters. "Hey, what's this say?" He handed it back to Exile.

"It is the Hattori family mantra. I will explain it another time." Beast Boy's face suddenly looked like that of a child who would have to wait until the next night to hear the last chapter of a Harry Potter book. Exile cracked a slight smile. Just then, Raven and Cyborg entered the living room from opposite ends. Raven had been meditating, and Cyborg was busy waxing the T-Car. Both were looking for a snack.

"Hey, whatcha guys doing?" Cyborg asked Beast Boy and Exile. Raven was also curious, as Exile and Beast Boy seemed to be complete polar opposites. What could have them hanging out? And what did Exile do that had Beast Boy so calm and docile?

"Just catching Exile's life story!" BB replied. Raven perked up, interested.

"Hey, cool! You mind repeating it?" Cyborg asked Exile. Exile nervously shifted, not entirely wanting to tell the whole story all over again. Beast Boy noticed him, and jumped up.

"Hey, I can tell you guys the quick version!" Exile sighed in relief as Beast Boy walked over to the computer and typed in a series of commands. In a minute, a newspaper presented itself on the big screen. The headline read: "FLIGHT 736 CRASHES OVER SIBERIA, 1 YOUNG BOY'S BODY MISSING, PRESUMED DEAD." Raven raised an eyebrow.

"Wait a minute," said Cyborg, "You mean HE'S…"

"Yeah!" replied BB, "That's him!"

"Oh snap!" You gotta be kidding me!" exclaimed Cyborg. Exile simply smiled, stood, and reattached the sheathed weapon to his hip. He calmly walked out of the living room.

After Exile finished telling his story, Pyro went up into his room. Time passed, and soon he found himself siting on his bed. He was holding on to a red and yellow electric guitar, the symbol of the Order on the back of it. He was playing whatevere was coming onto his head. His skill was that of someone who had been playing a long time. Considering he was about forty years old, his skill was exceptional. He started playing a song he quite liked, 'One Last Breath," by Creed. To Pyro, playing his guitar usually helps him get his thoughts in order, but today, it didn't seem to be helping. He could only think of what had happened earlier. They were on to him, and he knew it. It was only a matter of time before the lid would be blown, and he became toast. He didn't realize it, but he began playing "It's Been Awhile," A song by Staind. The song started making him think ofa relationship might become if it ever happened. The key phrase being 'If it ever happened.' And for the first time in nearly thirty years, he began to sing. His voice seemed to change a little bit, and oddly enough, his voice was still pleasing to listen to, even after thirty years of unuse and change. He was interrupted by a knock on the door. He put down his guitar and walked over to the door, and opened it a little bit.

"Yes?"

"Would you mind turning down your amp a little bit?" Raven asked, startling Pyro a little bit on the inside.

"Oh, not at all, I didn't realize it was so loud." Pyro replied.

"It's okay, Im just about to meditate, and they seem to cause a problem with my concentration."

"I see. Sorry to bother you."

"No need to apologize," She said, then added, much to Pyro's suprise, "By the way, try turning the treble up a little bit next time." she finished, then walked away.

_Oookay... I think I need to start working on heating up Hell..._ he thought, as he went to shut off his amp. He adjusted the treble like she said to, then, for no reason, decided to take a nap.

He woke up later, and the bad feeling had intensified. He hardly ever took naps, and when he did, it seemed like something bad happened later. He picked up his revolver and opened it, catching the six rounds. He looked at each one before putting thefour rubber bullets and two regular hollow-point bullets into the cylinder. He carfully rotated it, the holstered it under his tan duster. He pulled out his sawed-off shotgun and opened the breach, letting the regular shells fall out. He dug in his pockets and pulled out a pair of blue shells -beanbag rounds- and put them into the gun, snapping it shut. Then, for the hell of it, he pointed it at an imaginary figure in the wall, and pulled back both hammers.

"You talkin' ta me?"

Pyro pressed a lever and the two hammers fell down, and then he holstered it as well. He walked over to a corner in his room and picked up his sword and placed it over his back. Pyro sometimes wondered to himself what his mother did to allow it to do this, but he never questioned it. The blade and the gun inside have never let him down in a battle, the blade never breaking and the gun never running out of ammo. He punched a button next to his door and it slid open. He walked out and it closed. He want to the living room and saw the others looking over something.

"What's up?" Pyro asked.

"We have a lead on some operation that's supposed to take place at one of the high-tech companies." Robin said.

"Blaine Coporation, to be exact." Cyborg added.

"Would you take Starfire and go check it out?" Robin asked.

"Why not have Raven go with him? I think he might like it better!" Beast boy said. Pyro turned to him with and evil smile and replied,

"Why not you and ME go?" he said through gritted teeth. BB yelped and hid behind Cyborg. No one said anything else on that subject.

"Well?" Robin said.

"Why not?" Pyro replied. "When do we leave?" he added.

"Might wanna go ahead and go, the lead said it should be happening soon."

"Got it. Star, lets ride!" Pyro said, turning to leave.

"Ride? Ride what?" She asked, following him.

When they got outside, Pyro took off quickly, and Starfire chased after him, suprised by his speed. She tried calling out to him, but the words were lost in the roar of Pyro's afterburners.

The two flew together for a while, then Pyro slowed down, and all the noise he was making all but quit.

'Hey, Star!"

"Yes?"

"Ever flown faster than the speed of sound before?"

"I have been in spacecraft traveling faster than the speed of light before."

"Not like that, I mean how we're flying right now."

"Then no, I have not."

"Want to?"

"What of the noise and over flight restrictions the city mandated?"

"We're Teen Titans, remember? Our job may require temporarily disregarding certain rules like that."

"Ohhh, I see."

"So, wanna give it a try?"

"I see no reason not to!" Star said, smiling. Pyro offered her his hands, and they held on to each other.

"Hang on!" Pyro said before suddenly accelerating, the afterburner changing to pulse-detonation, and with a distinctly different sound.

Starfire soon started to feel pressure around her eyes, nose, and mouth, pushing quite hard, pressure continually increasing to the point where she was just about to tell Pyro to slow down, then a loud crack sent her ears ringing, and all of the pressure went away. She looked down, and the city was going by so fast that she couldn't make out anything. They left the city, but quickly turned around back to it. Pyro started to slow down, dropping below the speed of sound, and the familiar pressure returned, but it didn't last long, as it quickly faded back to tolerable levels. The experience may have lasted less that fifteen seconds, but it was one that she would never forget. They arrived at their destination and set down.

"That was most glorious! I wish to thank you for the memorable experience!" She bubbled, hugging him.

"No problem! Robin said it might help if we hung out more, anyway. I seriously am sorry about what happened a month or so ago." Pyro replied.

"Apology accepted!" She said.

"Thank you!" Pyro replied. "I was hoping for a long time you would say that. So, are we cool?

"We are 'chilled' or however you say it!" She said.

"Great! Well then, let's get to work." Pyro said. They went into the building and started looking around. Pyro went around to some of the boxes containing the more valuable objects, and found something: a small object with an 'L' on it. He picked it up, then a voice from within the darkness started laughing. A bright flash enveloped him, and Pyro was forced to turn away for a moment, but looked back at it when his eyes adjusted.

"You cannot deny the greatness that is Dr. Light!" The man said, bathing Pyro in brightness.

"What the...? Weren't you the dude who made Megaman?" Pyro asked, confused.

"Wha..? Fool! Do not mock me!" Dr. Light responded.

"I wasn't mocking you. Just who the hell are you, anyway?" Pyro asked.

"I told you before, I am Dr. Light!" he replied, before attacking him. They fought for a brief period, and it was a bit one ended towards Pyro, until Starfire came to his aid.

"Star! Get the others! I can handle this guy!" Pyro said, taking a stance with his sword. She left, and Pyro charged Light. He easily dodged out of the way.He swung again, and missed, again and again. Pyro soon started to see a pattern, and he swung one more time, hoping that Dr. Light would move to where he expected him to move to. He missed, but immediately swung the sword over his head and behind him. The slash was successful, as he left a nice gash in Dr. Light's clothing.

"My suit!"

"A word of advice; learn to make your dodges unpredictable." Pyro said, unwittingly imitating part of what Dr. Light said to Raven before. The two started fighting for a while, and to the point where Pyro thought he could end it. He sheathed his sword and pulled out his revolver, jump-dodging one of Dr. Light's attacks. He fired two bullets, but Dr. Light somehow evaded them. Pyro fired three more bullets over the course of a few minutes of fighting, and eventually had him cornered. Pyro aimed his gun at him, a smirk on his face.

"Looks like it's lights out for Dr. Light." Pyro said. Dr. Light had a surprised look on his face.

Pyro pulled the trigger.

The hammer fell, setting off the charge, propelling the bullet out of the cartridge, but something went wrong. The bullet was off at an angle, and it lodged itself into the barrel. The explosive charge had nowhere else to go but back.

The gun discharged back into Pyro's face.

Back at the tower, Starfire landed at the front door and rushed inside. "Friends! Pyro has engaged our old enemy Dr. Light in battle!" The others gathered in the main room. Exile was the first to speak up, and caught everyone by surprise with his angered tone of voice.

"Fool! You left a teammate behind! You do NOT leave a brother in arms alone on the battlefield!" Before anyone else could say anything, Exile was out the door and speeding towards Pyro's position.

Starfire looked surprised and saddened. She did not think Pyro was in great danger, but was quite taken aback by Exile's anger. He was so calm and even-mannered, but something really set him off. She turned to Robin with a sad face. "Have I… done wrong?"

Robin reassured her. "No, Exile's training taught him that. A ninja never leaves a comrade behind, dead or alive. He's just making sure Pyro's OK."

Back at the building, Exile arrived to find two bodies, Pyro's and Dr. Light's both slumped in opposite corners of the room. Gunpowder had burned much of Pyro's face, as Exile found the broken pistol nearby. Exile felt for a pulse, and found a faint one. He couldn't feel Pyro's breath, however. _He requires medical help immediately_, he thought._ I must get him home._ Dr. Light groaned as he regained consciousness. "You are lucky," Exile told the stunned villain, "that Pyro requires assistance. I shall deal with you later…" With that, Exile slung Pyro's body over his shoulder, collected the weapon, and tore off for the tower. Dr. Light gathered himself up and retreated to his hideout, wondering who the mysterious warrior was.

At Titans Tower, the others prepared to head for the garage to take the T-Car out in support of Pyro and Exile. Before they could head downstairs, the front door burst open. "Pyro's down!" Raven quickly created a flat black stretcher, and Exile laid Pyro's body on it. "He is not breathing, but has a heartbeat. I suggest you quickly move him to the infirmary." Starfire was immediately overwhelmed with guilt, and it showed. Exile walked over to her. "It is not your fault. Pyro's weapon backfired on him. For now, let us simply see to Pyro's health."

Raven was rushing Pyro to the infirmary, with the others in tow. When they arrived, and Raven levitated Pyro's limp form onto one of the beds. Several scanners went over him immediately, going over the powder burn, his heart and lung activity. Raven used her power to try and treat the problem in his lungs, and just after it was cleared, an alarm blared, signifying that Pyro's heart had stopped. Starfire gasped in horror.

_Oh no... If only I had not left, then friend Pyro might not be suffering so..._ She thought.

"Everyone stand back!" Raven commanded. The others complied, and she placed her hands on both sides of Pyro's chest. A small part of her noticed how strange it felt, his chest felt rough under the fabric. Some dark energy surrounded her hands, then it flashed into something resembling lightning. Pyro's body arched, and the alarms kept on, their sad song unhindered. She tried several more times, with no success.

The fifth time, a feint heartbeat returned. Raven sighed in relief, then looked toward the others. Cyborg looked down at his watch, then back at Raven and shook his head.

"Three and a half minutes." He said. Robin had crossed his arms over his chest and was leaning against the wall. Starfire was trying to hold back tears, and Beast Boy was pacing the floor, trying to think of other things. He knew better than to even try and jest. If Exile was close to loosing it, he didn't show it. He looked concerned for Pyro, but nothing more.

"Let's let him rest for now. I'll keep on eye on him until he wakes up." Raven said

"What if he doesn't wake up for a few days?" BB asked.

"I'll check on him periodically." She replied, not missing a beat. Little did she know that, in a way, she never left him. Even though Pyro may have been dead long enough to cause permanent damage in humans, he could still dream. While his brain focused on repairing itself, it dedicated an unused portion for dreaming. One of the few things he was secretly proud of was the fact that his dreams had always been free of perversion, unlike most others he knew. Even though his body was going through the final stages of the human equivalent of puberty, his dreams had always been clean. Even now, it mostly consisted of something romantic at the most.

Despite the temporary loss of a valuable team member, The Teen Titans continued to fight the good fight, sometimes overly easy, and once, barely surviving. Exile seemed to have proven his worth in every fight, only using the force necessary to win without killing. His control seemed to amaze everyone, never losing his cool.

Meanwhile, Dr. Light was inadvertently copying a tactic Slade frequently used. Several spy cameras were positioned around the city, each one watching the Titans fight from different angles. He studied Exile's moves and fighting technique. He even backtracked into his archives and found a few he had forgotten about that were recorded a while after Pyro joined the team. Dr. Light did research on both Pyro and Exile, learning their moves and how often they were used, and finding ways to counter them. He had a hard time trying to find ways to counter some of Exile's moves, as he seemed to focus on speed and stealth, one of which Dr. Light used quite efficiently.

While Pyro seemed fairly calm and level headed normally, he became quite rash and unthinking during combat, which Dr. Light found easy to take advantage of. He found ways to counter every attack he saw Pyro pull off, his sword and gun attacks, his attacks with fire, everything. Dr. Light even created a Lightsaber to fight him with. He knew of Star Wars, and it was surprisingly easy to make a copy of. The only thing he could not do was change the color.

It took a great amount of his intelligence to find ways to combat Exile, and most of it involved ways to move even faster than him. Some of it consisted of dodges and ways to duplicate himself, attempting to deceive him and creating a weakness. Little did Dr. Light know the extent of what Exile could do. He thought Exile gave it his all in every fight, no matter the circumstances. Perhaps he could take advantage of that, along with his seemingly imperturbable loyalty.

Time passed, and Dr. Light continued with his research… it would take him some time to prepare.


End file.
